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12" or 15" Subwoofer?

PauFerro

PauFerro

Jun 8, 2008
3,361
4,204
United States
#1
I am debating what kind of subwoofer to get -- a 12" or 15" subwoofer. Any recommendations when you combine portability with sound? I would prefer to have only one subwoofer, and it has to fit into the back seat of my car too...

Suggestions welcome...
 
#4
PauFerro said:
I want to make a dance band sound good. I'd like what I do be scaleable for smaller and larger gigs, and I want the bass and kick drum to come through well enough to make the audience dance.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by "dance band"? Electronica, EDM, dubstep, hip-hop, etc?
If so, those genres have much more bass than others, so I doubt a single 15 sub will cut it anything much larger than a restaurant setting.
 
#7
I have two 25lb 15" subs from RevSound.net - but they are passive (I power them at 400w each) and I'm 99% sure the OP needs an active cab with crossover. Actually they are bass cabs with an extended low end and that particular PA started out as a bass rig that "grew" an input for the kick mic - and now supports mains and monitors if needed. I can still run it bass only or bass and kick only if there's a separate vocal PA.
 
#8
When we use our own PA we bring two EV EKX18SP subs... 18", compact, 1300w each.. that's for Country, NOT "dance" music.
When I played rock 'n Roll, I used a Yorkville LS800P 18" 1500w sub.. Only one. Never needed two inmost "clubs/bars" we played.
 
#11
PauFerro said:
I am debating what kind of subwoofer to get -- a 12" or 15" subwoofer. Any recommendations when you combine portability with sound? I would prefer to have only one subwoofer, and it has to fit into the back seat of my car too...

Suggestions welcome...
Click to expand...

You might find some relevant info, both in the responses and my experiences, from this thread 12 inch powered subs for "small room" PA

I think this is so dependent on the types of gigs involved (including the room feel you're going for) and the type of music you're playing that this can be difficult to pin down through brief forum responses/opinions.

One opinion I formed, in going through a similar decision making process, was that a single sub can have some distinct benefits and inherently address some challenges, especially when used in plug-n-play/mix-from-the-stage type situations and in a variety of rooms that are setup without music as a consideration.

I have a mid-sized car, and the 15" sub that I ran with for a while (the Mackie HD1501) absolutely "fit," but it was a PITA to handle and left dings, dents, and a torn seat in its wake.
 
#13
There's not any special tone imparted by the size of the speakers in a sub.
What you want is to match the subs with the tops you have. Make sure their of compatible SPL levels.
Don't leave a gap in the frequency response that is hard to eq out. Bandpass subs can be fine, but watch out that they also roll off on the upper end faster than regular ported designs.
To get things balanced you'll probably need more subwoofer cabs than you think.
 
#15
PauFerro said:
I want to make a dance band sound good. I'd like what I do be scaleable for smaller and larger gigs, and I want the bass and kick drum to come through well enough to make the audience dance.
Click to expand...
what's the rest of the PA? how much of the band gets mic'ed?

a single 12 or single 15 that doesn't cost $2000 might be OK for filling out a band that's "stage volume plus", nothing but vocals and a pinch of kick in the PA, but that's about it. the yorkville LS720 is nice and compact while still being decent.

if you're more of a rock band in small places doing your own sound with like a couple of 15 top boxes and more stuff mic'ed then one strong powered single 18" sub isn't out of line. one QSC 181 will fill a lot of small bar stages by itself if the band isn't too loud on stage.

if you're trying to do more "pro" high energy danceable music in smaller clubs with fat low end really filling the room, four good 18s with plenty of amp power behind them is how it's done.

(i think any place that needs more than that also needs real out-front sound, at which point you just pay the guy and let him handle it.)
 
#16
walterw said:
what's the rest of the PA? how much of the band gets mic'ed?
Click to expand...

We have the bass and keyboard straight into the PA. The vocals, guitar, and sax are on mics,. We also mic as much of the drums as we can, usually, just the kick drum and an overhead. We have an Electric Wind Instrument that goes straight into the board. We have two powered JBL Eons as mains, and can expand it to four if need be. We also use two little Kustom 12" as monitors.

We have been playing smaller venues -- the next gig is in an area about 2000 square feet.

Hope that helps make a recommendation for subwoofers.
 
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#17
PauFerro said:
We have two powered JBL Eons as mains, and can expand it to four if need be. We also use two little Kustom 12" as monitors.
Click to expand...
"expanding to four" doesn't really work, typical "music store" top boxes don't do well sitting next to each other; you get weird comb-filtering that makes them kind of "loud but not good".

so with two cheaper tops, direct bass and minimal drum mics, my vote is one decent 18" powered sub. the EV ELX is not bad for like $700.
 

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